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CDW Launches Cloud Planning Services

CDW has announced a new offering for organizations looking to move to the cloud. Its new Cloud Planning Services provides an array of advisory services to help develop a cloud strategy; decide which systems to move to the cloud; assess, design, deploy and manage cloud solutions; and achieve operational and financial goals.

Among the services are four workshops, ranging in intensity from a one-day seminar on cloud basics to a seven-week, in-depth look at the business side of the cloud. Participants have the opportunity to work on customized projects tailored to their institutional needs. The workshops, as described by the company, comprise:

Cloud 101, a one-day workshop that outlines cloud market trends and evaluates an organization's IT environments. Cloud 101 helps organizations understand the most compelling use cases for cloud and how centralized IT can regain control in a technology-as-a-service environment, identifying the challenges and key drivers for change in cloud deployment;

Cloud 201, a one-week, in-depth look into the customer's IT environment to help them develop a cloud strategy, construct supporting business cases and identify data center transformations necessary for cloud adoption. From Cloud 201, CDW customers produce a tailored and prioritized list of cloud-candidate applications and services, a high-level roadmap for cloud optimization and an assessment of their current state cloud operations, infrastructure and processes;

Cloud 202, a three-week process that includes the Cloud 201 consultation and additional focus on total cost of ownership (TCO) frameworks to identify cloud vendors that match the customer's specific workload needs. It also provides an overview of cloud security and the compliance landscape with prospective vendors, plus an approach to data center cost reduction and key cost reduction drivers with cloud; and

Cloud 301, a seven-week process highlighting consideration and definition of the financial and non-financial benefits of cloud adoption at the customer organization. In Cloud 301, customers derive a prioritized list of applications/services whose TCO, business and security considerations indicate cloud is the best IT delivery model, plus an assessment of their current data center cost breakdown vs. industry standards and a validated as-a-service cloud operating model.